Technique for the safe placement of a biodegradable stent into the common bile duct of rabbits

Biodegradable common bile duct (CBD) stents are in high clinical demand. Animal experiments concerning the surgical placement of biliary stents made of new materials are being performed more frequently than ever before. However, these animal experiments only use large animals. In this study, a central venous catheterization set was used as a modified stent introducer system in rabbits. A biodegradable Mg-6Zn alloy CBD stent was passed through the duodenal papilla using this stent introducer system. Computed tomography (CT) scanning of the CBD stent in vivo and levels of serum lipase (LPS) were investigated. Twelve rabbits underwent CBD stent insertion and one animal died due to an anesthetic accident. After 3 weeks, when the remaining 11 rabbits were sacrificed, no jaundice or bile leakage was observed. CT scanning of the 11 rabbits suggested that the biodegradable Mg-6Zn stent was successfully placed into the CBD. When the preoperative and postoperative levels of LPS were compared, no statistically significant differences were observed. This new method appears to be feasible and safe for the placement of stents into the CBDs of small animals. This new method can increase the animal number of CBD stent experiment, and improve the quality of experiments.